Go Beyond Handmade Signs

Our Towns: Colchester

August 21, 1998

Colchester resident Ruthann Labonosky shouldn't have felt forced to post her own speed limit signs as a way to get motorists' attention. But the children on Old Hebron Road are lucky she did. She's gotten results.

For a long time, Mrs. Labonosky has been concerned about the reckless speeders who rush down Old Hebron Road, where her family lives, with no thought to the people they are putting at risk.

She's asked Colchester officials to erect a speed limit sign and lower the posted limit, but the wheels of town government turn slowly. So she took matters into her own hands in the interim.

The two signs on her lawn say: ``Speed limit 30. Kids at play'' and ``30 mph. Let kids play.'' The effect has been noticeable. Some drivers who regularly use Old Hebron Road have told Mrs. Labonosky that they never realized the speed limit was only 30 mph. Others have been slowing down.

Often, such unexpected warnings about speeding get more attention than the standard road signs. In fact, Mrs. Labonosky first thought of her idea when she was driving down another residential street and saw a similar sign warning drivers to slow down.